richard newman
Titanium
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2006
- Location
- rochester, ny
I make banjo rims, and have to plane up lots of laminations, 3" x 48" x .150" to .325" thickness. Cherry, walnut, hard maple, and lots curly hard and soft maple, some of it extremely highly figured. I have an older SCM 20" planer, 4 knife head w/ sharpener, and it does a really good job with thin material, but with the squirrely grain stuff theres always some tear-out. So I have to run that stuff thru the widebelt, which is fine but much slower, have to work thru the grits up to 120 or 180, can't take much per pass.
So I've been thinking a Byrd Shelix head. I've been really impressed with the Shelix heads i have on my shaper and 6" Powermatic jointer, they cut ANYTHING without tearout. A replacement head for my SCM costs $3000, and for that I'm thinking I could get an entire smaller planer. Don't need much width for 3" strips, but is there a quality machine with Shelix head that will give a good, snipe free cut and hold up well? Are the 15" Powermatics contenders? Or I'd also be willing to refit an older machine with a shelix if I can keep it under 3k.
I know there aren't a lot of woodworkers on this site, but I trust you guys. Are there any other forums where I could get good, reliable info?
So I've been thinking a Byrd Shelix head. I've been really impressed with the Shelix heads i have on my shaper and 6" Powermatic jointer, they cut ANYTHING without tearout. A replacement head for my SCM costs $3000, and for that I'm thinking I could get an entire smaller planer. Don't need much width for 3" strips, but is there a quality machine with Shelix head that will give a good, snipe free cut and hold up well? Are the 15" Powermatics contenders? Or I'd also be willing to refit an older machine with a shelix if I can keep it under 3k.
I know there aren't a lot of woodworkers on this site, but I trust you guys. Are there any other forums where I could get good, reliable info?